Staley resigned last week to become the coach at South Carolina. Owls athletic director Bill Bradshaw is forming a search committee to go through the list of candidates.

Cheryl Reeve, a former La Salle star who is an assistant to Bill Laimbeer with the WNBA's Detroit Shock, said yesterday she would apply for the job. The South Jersey native also was an assistant with the Charlotte Sting, head coach at Indiana State, and an assistant at George Washington.

Holy Family coach Mike McLaughlin, whose Tigers advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II women's tournament, said yesterday he also intended to apply.

Former La Salle women's coach John Miller, who led the Mount St. Joseph's girls to a state title last season, has been mentioned as a candidate as well.

"I just had my best year in coaching," said Miller, who was named the Associated Press' girls' coach of the year in Pennsylvania. "But given my friendships [with Bradshaw and Temple men's coach Fran Dunphy], I would certainly listen to what they had to say."

Former St. Joseph's coach Stephanie V. Gaitley is not a candidate. The former Long Island coach was named yesterday as the coach at Monmouth, where her son, Dutch, plays for the men's team.

Yesterday, Bradshaw met with the players before they left for summer vacation.

Honoring Perretta. On Saturday night, about 200 friends, former players and past assistants attended a salute to Villanova women's coach Harry Perretta, who has completed 30 seasons with the Wildcats.

Villanova men's coach Jay Wright and former Wildcats coach Rollie Massimino were among the speakers.

Assistant Shanette Lee, who played for Perretta, offered a humorous impersonation of the coach talking to his team during a time-out.

Lynn Tighe, a former player who is 'Nova's women's athletic director, also spoke, as did Drexel coach Denise Dillon and former players Trish Juhline and Lisa Angelotti Gedaka.

Dillon recalled Perretta's recruiting pitch to her in a parking lot after a high school game: "You'll never learn to play unless you come to Villanova."

Perretta offered a 25-minute retrospective of his life, from his boyhood days in West Philadelphia as a Monsignor Bonner student to the present.

Guests were given Perretta bobblehead dolls.